FG Explains How Nigerians Will Be Selected for ₦50,000 Emergency Relief Grant
The Federal Government has explained how poor and vulnerable Nigerian households will be selected to benefit from its ₦50,000 emergency relief grant under the National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention (NERSI).
The programme, implemented by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, is aimed at supporting vulnerable households struggling with the rising cost of living through direct cash transfers.
According to the programme’s guidelines, selected beneficiaries will receive ₦50,000 directly into their mobile wallets through designated payment providers, including ALAT, MoMo, NairaGram, OPay and Moniepoint.
The government explained that beneficiaries would be selected through verified national identity records and the National Social Register, stressing that individuals cannot independently apply or pay to secure a place on the beneficiary list.
It also clarified that not everyone would be captured in the first batch of beneficiaries.
How selected beneficiaries will receive the ₦50,000
The government outlined four steps for receiving the grant.
SMS Notification: Selected beneficiaries will receive a text message from their designated payment provider informing them of their selection.
Confirmation: Beneficiaries must reply YES to the message to confirm their willingness to participate. No payment will be made without their consent.
Wallet Activation: After confirmation, a mobile wallet will be created and linked to the beneficiary’s phone number and National Identification Number (NIN).
Payment: The ₦50,000 grant will be credited to the wallet, from where beneficiaries can withdraw through POS agents, banks or spend directly using their mobile wallets.
USSD codes for accessing the grant
The government also provided the following codes for beneficiaries to access their funds:
ALAT (Wema Bank): 94523#
MoMo PSB: *6710#
NairaGram: *72600#
OPay: 95520# or mobile application.
Moniepoint: 557327# or mobile application.
Beneficiaries will also receive additional instructions from their respective payment providers after their wallets have been credited.
Government warns against fraud
The Federal Government warned Nigerians to beware of fraudsters who may attempt to exploit the programme by demanding money or sensitive banking information.
It stressed that the ₦50,000 intervention is completely free and nobody is authorised to collect money from beneficiaries to facilitate payment.
According to the guidelines, genuine messages must come from the designated payment providers, and beneficiaries will only be asked to reply YES or dial their provider’s official USSD code.
The government further warned that no genuine message would request a beneficiary’s PIN, One-Time Password (OTP), password or payment of any kind.
It advised Nigerians not to disclose their banking details to anyone, including agents or individuals claiming to be government officials.
